How Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams Remained BFFs

The real survivor is their friendship! Michelle Williams revealed how she has maintained her close relationships with Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé for more than 15 years after Destiny’s Child released their final album.

Williams, 41, exclusively spoke to Us Weekly on Monday, May 24, about her enduring friendships with Rowland, 40, and Beyoncé, 39, ahead of the release of her memoir, Checking In: How Getting Real about Depression Saved My Life — and Can Save Yours. She met her girl group colleagues in 1999 when she was 20, and though they released their final album together, Destiny Fulfilled, in 2004, they remain a tight-knit bunch.

“I would just say respect and keeping our friendship kind of between us,” the mental health advocate told Us about the key to their enduring relationships. “We don’t share.”

Privacy is obviously necessary when Beyoncé is among your besties, but Williams said that she doesn’t extend that courtesy to her famous friends alone. “This is what I do with my best friend [who] is a dentist in Miami,” the Masked Singer alum explained. “So I don’t share her secrets. I don’t treat any of my friends any differently than Beyoncé and Kelly. We just honor each other’s hearts, really.”

The author revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has only strengthened their friendship, forcing the trio to be more honest about their feelings throughout the past year.

“I think the pandemic has taught people, listen, there let’s not hide anything. Let’s not do that,” she explained. “A lot of people have passed away, and it’s just like, let’s hold on to our loved ones. And let’s really say how we’re really feeling. That could save a life.”

The Grammy winner, who lives with anxiety and depression, is hoping to help inspire others to future their mental health. She’ll cohost UBS’s Athletes and Entertainers Strategic Client segment’s virtual event to discuss the issues entertainers face when managing success with work/life balance and mental health on Tuesday, May 25. She’ll even delve into how manage and protecting finances can be connected at the event.

“There are so many people who wear the suits, who are in corporate America, and they’re having some challenges,” she told Us. “They’re struggling. They don’t know how to process their pain. They’re successful, but, they don’t know how to process things that they’ve gone through.”

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